Sweet Potato Fries

Every time I make Cuban Black Beans with rice, I always make these to go along side!  They are the perfect sweet and savory side dish to eat along with the black beans.  I love the flavor combination together, and I know you will too!  And these are soo simple and easy to throw together. 

Sweet Potato Fries
Yield: 4 servings

4 medium sweet potatoes
1 medium onion, sliced
8-10 garlic cloves, crushed
fine sea salt
olive oil

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2.  Slice washed sweet potatoes into 4-inch long wedges (keep the skin on them for extra nutrients).  Spread the wedges out on two cookie sheets.  Sprinkle onion & crushed garlic evenly over them. Generously sprinkle fine sea salt over everything.  Then, drizzle olive oil over everything.
3.  Place in 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.  Flip them over and stir them around a little, then bake for another 10 minutes.  Serve with Cuban Black Beans and rice.

*Note: Cut the recipe in half if you are only going to serve two people.

Chicken-less Noodle Soup

Here is a quick and easy soup that pairs well with sourdough toast, or open-faced sandwiches, for a quick weeknight dinner.

Chicken-less Noodle Soup
Yield: 4 servings

1 cup rice pasta spirals (or any pasta of your choice)
2 cups water
2 cups chicken-like (or vegetable) broth
1 medium carrot, sliced thinly
1 stalk celery, sliced thinly

1.  In a medium sauce pot, fill with water, add some salt, bring it to a boil.  Add pasta and cook until AL-dente about 8-10 minutes. After cooked, then drain the pasta.
2.  Meanwhile, bring broth and water to a simmer.  Add veggies and simmer until really nice and tender.  Add cooked pasta.  Serve!

*Note: You may add about a cup of veggie meat, or soy curls (reconstituted in boiling water for 10 minutes, and drained). 

Creamy Breakfast Gravy

Here's a nice, rich, creamy, seasoned breakfast gravy to go over your morning tofu scrambles, eggs, toast, or biscuits!  

This is a very versatile recipe, so you can adjust seasonings to your own taste.  I  used to serve this as my go-to recipe for breakfast gravy.  The past several years, I've experimented with lots of different kinds of flavors and ingredients in my breakfast gravies, but this texture is really yummy.  Simple, rich, and compliments your savory Sunday morning brunch quite nicely!

Give it a try, and let me know what you think in the comments below! 


Creamy Breakfast Gravy
Yield: 6-8 servings

3 cups water
1 cup raw cashews
3 TB nutritional yeast flakes
1 TB Chicken-style seasoning
1 TB soy sauce, Tamari, or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp granulated onion
½ tsp sea salt
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried parsley

1.  Place everything into a blender jar, except basil and parsley.  Blend on high until really smooth, or about 2-5 minutes, depending on the quality of your blender.  (A good test is to stop the blender, stick your finger into the mixture, and rub your fingers together.  You are looking for a smooth, non-gritty consistency.  If in doubt, blend it a couple more minutes.)
2.  Then add dried basil and parsley and blend briefly, just until incorporated.  (Your gravy will turn green if you blend too long.)
3.  Cook over medium heat whisking constantly until thick and creamy.  Serve over biscuits!

Taco-Style Beans

What's cheap, low fat, easy to prepare, with more protein than any animal product?  BEANS, of course!  Beans, beans, they're good for the heart... RIGHT?!  Right.  They are very good for us.

Here is a very easy recipe for beans that go really well on taco-salad, served as a side dish for any Mexican-style meal, or just over some brown rice with some fresh toppings!  This is a recipe in which all of the ingredients are for sure going to be in your pantry already, and it is very easy to prepare.  NOTHING intimidating here, folks!

Have yourself a happy bean holiday!  Yay!


Taco-Style Beans
Yield: a large crock-pot full

6 cups pinto beans, or a mixture of a few different kinds
1 medium onion, diced
10-12 large cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1 TB taco seasoning
1 TB dried oregano
½ tsp cumin
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 TB sea salt, or to taste
½ a 15oz can tomato sauce
2 TB organic brown sugar, agave, or maple syrup

1.  Soak beans for 8 hours, drain, rinse, place in crock-pot and cook on low for 8 hours.
2.  In a large, hot, oiled skillet, place onion.  Sauté with a pinch of salt until translucent and almost caramelized.  Throw in garlic, taco seasoning, oregano, cumin, granulated garlic, and salt.  Sauté for a minute or two until everything smells fragrant.  Add tomato sauce (and a little water if it starts to stick). 
3.  Put beans in a colander after they are cooked, rinse them off really well.  Add them to a large pot.  Add seasoning sauté mixture, your sweetener of choice, and enough water to just cover the beans barely.  Bring beans to a simmer over medium heat, then reduce to low.  Let simmer for about 15-20 minutes.  Serve.  

Potato Breakfast Scramble

Here's my favorite recipe for tofu scramble.  Here are a couple photos of when I made this for samples at the Fargo-Moorhead Health Expo on February 22, 2015.  I cooked everything separately, then you throw it together at the end, and serve!

I love the simplicity of this recipe, because I always have the ingredients in my pantry.  And if you like, you may cook any style of breakfast potatoes (boiled, baked, fried, etc.)... and this is pretty versatile, because you can keep the tofu and potatoes separate, or throw them together at the end.  

Depends on who you're serving breakfast for, I guess.  

My husband is not a vegetarian, so he's not the biggest fan of tofu scramble for breakfast.  But, if I'm just making this for my daughter and I, usually I make as directed.  Bon appetite!  

Let me know what you think in the comments below!  Or on our Facebook page "Courtney's Pantry."


Potato Tofu Breakfast Scramble
yield: 2-4 servings

1 pound small red, or gold, potatoes
1 TB oil
1 small onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced (any color)
1 14 or 16 oz container extra firm tofu, rinsed
4 large cloves garlic, pressed or minced
3 TB nutritional yeast flakes
1 ½ TB chicken-style seasoning
1 TB soy sauce, Tamari, or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
½-1 tsp dried parsley
Sea salt, to taste

1.  Cook the potatoes: Bring unsalted water to boil over medium high heat.  Add potatoes and cook until tender, about 15 minutes.  Let cool, and dice potatoes into chunks.  Add potatoes to a hot, oiled skillet in one single layer.  Cook for 10 minutes until golden brown.
2.  Cook the tofu: In the meantime in another skillet over medium high heat, add the onions and peppers.  Cook until 10 minutes, until the onions and peppers are soft and everything is browned as you like it.  Crumble the tofu with your hands into a large pan.  Add the garlic, yeast flakes, chicken-style seasoning, soy sauce, and dried parsley.  Stir everything together, and cook it until the tofu starts to look nice and golden brown.  You may add a dash of oil to help the tofu to brown up a bit.
3.  Mix everything together: In a large bowl add potato mixture and tofu mixture.  Toss together and season with salt, to taste.